As a volunteer with my church I’ve had to go through a background check. This has come about in the last few years because of our insurance. We may be held liable if we knowingly allow someone to work with children who has had issues with the law, especially concerning sexual offenses. Along with that only church members can work with children. These Background Checks are now included with our membership material if you say that you want to volunteer.
Some people complain about having this done, but most of the time they realize it is for the safety of the children and for our church too. If there were any accusations made, God forbid, we’d have one piece of evidence covered. We are also careful to not leave any adult alone with one child. There is usually an adult with a group of children, or two or more adults with larger groups. Sad, it seems but this is being realistic.
In Florida, the public school systems have put into place very strict criteria for anyone who comes onto the school property as well as volunteers. This law is called the Jessica Lunsford Act, named after the young girl who was kidnapped and murdered by a sex offender living next door to her. It doesn’t even matter if you are working with children or not, everyone has Criminal Background Checks done. You can be in a room with telephone equipment, if you are to work on the school campus you must pass the background check. I also volunteer at Peanut’s school and have to complete a background check each year. This costs the school a great deal of money, but since it is for the safety of our children, I’m all for it.
Last year, we had construction work on Peanut’s school campus. There was a new cafeteria being built as well as some other smaller projects. Every person that worked for the companies on that construction had to complete Criminal Checks. I believe that the companies paid for those as it should be.
As a parent I want my child to be protected as much as possible. As a volunteer I don’t mind filling out paperwork to help keep her safe. It is too frightening to read about teachers and other people working with children being able to hide their past by moving from state to state or by other means. I want updated information that can track their past.
Excellent post! I am glad to see that someone has some common sense when it comes to background checks. Negligent hiring and sexual abuse charges can ruin an organization.